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Cybriana
Cybriana was a female half-elf magic-user from Shadowdale in the Dalelands. Personality Cybriana had great goodness in her soul, enough to reject any evil in her makeup. She was an innocent. She had a gentle nature, but she was courageous in the face of danger and against those who tormented the weak, whom she was quick to care for and defend. She was playful, for example splashing Timoth with water when they found a pool of fresh water. Description Cybriana was a slender and beautiful half-elf woman with pointed ears, identical in form to Kilili. She had pale skin, long, curly blonde hair, and blue eyes. She wore a single white star earring from her left ear. She wore a green and brown dress and boots, trimmed with white fur, with brown straps on her left arm and a green glove on her right. Under the effects of the crystal curse, parts of Cybriana's body were transformed into pink crystal. This began at her fingers and extended up her arms to her shoulders every time she cast a spell. These parts were as hard as rock but remained flexible and did not seem to hamper her movement. These glowed with proximity to Selûne's Eye. It is unclear why Cybriana was steadily transformed to crystal when she cast spells. This may be due to her nature as being not entirely real, as revealed in "Day of the Darkening". However, in that comic she was intangible instead, and did not start turning to crystal with spellcasting. The crystal curse may been triggered by proximity to Kilili, revealed to be essentially more complete and real than Cybriana. In any case, it is unclear what connection Cybriana has to Selûne's Eye. Abilities As a magic-user, Cybriana was able to cast several spells, to hurl a rock with the word "strike", or to conjure flowers with the word "bloom". This last was apparently a special spell known only to elves of Shadowdale. She also knew magic missile and feather fall. When unable to use magic lest she turn to crystal, Cybriana played little part in battles. Cybriana was talented in the healing arts, able to make poultices and balms. However, no one had taught her these skills—instead, she somehow knew them intuitively. She thought she'd inherited these gifts from her father. History Early life All Cybriana knew of her heritage was that her father had been a young mage who wore a gem known as Selûne's Eye. He had been foraging for components for cures and potions outside Shadowdale when he'd met and been seduced by a "wicked" woman, whom she knew to be an evil elf, and was in fact a drow sorceress of the region. Shortly after her birth, her mother took her to a Dales elf village and abandoned her, leaving her in the care of an elderly elven woman, known for her wisdom and shamanic powers. Cybriana's mother departed, teleporting away by some magic. Cybriana was a typical half-elf baby, marred only by a strange dark birthmark in the center of her torso. The mark swelled as she grew older, developing into a horrid growth, one that bore an evil face. It seemed to contain a dark spirit, thought to be a manifestation of the mother's evil. In fact, it was of the father's evil as well—Ostus Agrivar had had a dark side, as all men did, but the incongruity of this against his good nature had passed to his daughter. The evil of both parents was rejected by the goodness of her infant soul, forming the birthmark. By the time Cybriana was a little girl, the growth was causing a sickness that threatened to kill her. To save the girl's life, the village council performed a shamanic rite to extract the growth and bind the dark spirit within it, before trapping it within a crystal sphere. Young Cybriana was cured and freed, but the spirit grew to great size, shattered the sphere, and fled. Cybriana grew into a young woman but, as it transpired, the dark spirit had grown into a woman itself, the drow mage Kilili. Kilili, formed equally of mother and father, was more of a complete, "real" person than Cybriana. Meanwhile, the monstrous being Imgig Zu, trapped within Selûne's Eye, observed this and forged a magical link with Kilili, allowing him to escape into the Realms. However, he needed Cybriana and Kilili together to release the rest of his people. Kilili fell in with Imgig, and together they hatched their scheme. Somehow, Cybriana learned that this "sister" had gone missing or been kidnapped. She learned that they were but fragments of one being and, unless they were reunited, her life and many other lives could be lost. She feared what her dark half might do if left unchecked. In the Year of the Prince, 1357 DR, Cybriana left Shadowdale and journeyed to Waterdeep in search of one who she believed could help her—the paladin Priam Agrivar, not knowing him to be her half-brother, the son of her father, Ostus Agrivar. Waterdeep On the way, she lodged with Jalma and two other elven women. But, demonstrating a simple spell, Cybriana was shocked to find her fingers transformed into pink crystal. Just then, chasme broke into their house and attacked, carrying away all four women. The chasme served Imgig Zu, hunting out Kilili's sister for the pair so they could open Selûne's Eye, now in the clutches of the monster. Cybriana, however, was rescued by the centaur Timoth Eyesbright and the dwarf Onyx the Invincible. Enlisting their aid, she told them her twin sister had been kidnapped. They agreed to escort her to Waterdeep, where they searched for the paladin, finally arriving at the Selûne's Smile tavern. There, the proprietress Luna introduced them to Vajra Valmeyjar, who led them to Priam Agrivar—the drunken beggar outside, whom they rescued from thugs. Casting another spell turned Cybriana's whole left hand to crystal. Together, the heroes journeyed into the wilderness to seek the legendary smith Jogaoh, a dwarf smith whose forge it was said could create works of magic, whom Onyx believed could help restore strength to Priam's arms. Although Onyx doubted it would be any good against Priam's continuing drunkenness and self-pity, Cybriana had faith in him. On the way, they were lured into a trap and attacked by a dustdigger—in truth a pet of Jogaoh named Ulala. Cybriana saved Priam, hauling him out of the monster's maw. Jogaoh also doubted Priam, yet after Cybriana argued for Priam, he agreed to help, provided the companions retrieved something from atop nearby Stoner's Needle. Camping for the night, Cybriana reminded Priam of her cause, but he recommended she find another savior. After battling ghoul warriors in the night, Vajra and Priam completed Jogaoh's quest, restoring Priam's strength with enchanted gauntlets, but Priam was shamed by his continuing cowardice and left. Shortly after, bounty seekers of Manshaka ambushed the group, Cybriana was grabbed, and they were captured. Regaining his courage, Priam intercepted the bounty seekers, and launched an ambush. The companions fought their way free, overpowered the bounty seekers, and left them tied up in a net dangling from a tree, before continuing on their way. Cybriana treated Onyx's injuries and told the companions her story. She believed her crystal curse to be related to her division from her dark aspect. When she mentioned Selûne's Eye, Priam realized they shared a father. But, just then, the group heard Imgig's chasme pursuing new victims and raced to the rescue. Cybriana defended them, casting a spell of magic missile to destroy a chasme, even though the crystal curse might kill her. Her right forearm turned to crystal. Meanwhile, Imgig Zu observed Selûne's Eye glow like the moon, meaning that Kilili's sister was near his tower and had been found by the chasme. In the black of night, Kilili visited Cybriana, and invited her to follow her to rid herself of the crystal curse. It was in fact a lure to bring her close to Imgig's tower. Selûne's Eye glowed brighter the closer they came, and so too did the crystalline parts of Cybriana, which cut through the fog surrounding Imgig's tower. Imgig's gargoyles snatched up Cybriana; when dropped, Kilili rescued her with a ring of telekinesis, and Cybriana was taken into their lair. In the caverns beneath Imgig's tower, Cybriana was placed inside a forcecage as Kilili stood just outside. Their proximity, both to each other and to Selûne's Eye caused the gem to glow even more brightly and to swell in size. Imgig Zu announced he would use their combined powers to open the Eye and release his long-imprisoned people to overrun and conquer the Realms. He revealed to Cybriana the truth of the creation of Kilili. Desperate to stop the monster and save the Realms, Cybriana used her bloom spell, conjuring fresh flowers throughout the caverns where her friends battled through Imgig's ogre minions. The flowers formed a trail, leading Timoth and the others to her rescue. But, too late, Imgig's people escaped, and still the ogres subdued the heroes. An exultant Imgig taunted Priam and threatened to kill him as he had killed Ostus Agrivar. But, just then, the roof of the cavern tore open and the brilliant light of the full moon shone through, blinding the ogres. Cybriana urged her brother Priam to strike, and strike he did, slaying Imgig Zu in the name of their father. At Imgig's death, the forcecage faded, and Cybriana escaped. She grabbed Kilili, knowing that if they touched then they would merge, becoming one whole being, part good and part evil, and the living key to Selûne's Eye. The Cybriana-half gained dominance over the Kilili-half, and the merged being vanished inside the gem, drawing all of Imgig's people back within, saving the Realms from devastation at the cost of her unique identity. A merged being levitated down, bearing the shrunken Selûne's Eye, and wearing the shredded remains of Cybriana's dress. Part Cybriana and part Kilili, she combined their names and named herself "Kyriani". Reappearance Cybriana later reappeared when a bolt of magic from the Great Door separated Kyriani into her and Kilili once more. However, Cybriana had no memory of her dark twin, of Onyx, or of anything that had happened. The wizard Parwyyd Hanifar divined that this was possible because Kyriani had never fully accepted her dark side, and therefore was not whole. He revealed the truth of the origin of Kilili, who seemed more complete, while Cybriana was barely real and intangible. Kilili left when she had the truth, but Parwyyd stole her ring of telekinesis, slipping it onto Cybriana's finger, forcing Kilili to return for the ring. Accepting that she, like her father, had both good and evil inside her, Cybriana seized Kilili and was able to merge with her for the second and final time, and a new Kyriani was born. She combined her powers with Parwyyd's to close the Door, and the one who waits behind it was slain. Kyriani thanked Parwyyd for giving her the truth of her nature and the courage to accept it. Kyriani felt that she was not the same Kyriani as before, but in fact the Kyriani she was meant to have been all along, accepting both sides of her nature and able to forge her own destiny. Relationships Cybriana was intricately bound to Kilili, the dark spirit extracted from her body as a child, thought to be the living embodiment of her mother's evil. Kilili described herself as the "dark aspect of their twin-selved being", and Cybriana once called her her "other self". However, the two usually referred to each other "sister", even "twin sister". When they touched, they merged into a single being, but struggled for control. Cybriana won out, and the two became one, Kyriani. Cybriana had a half-brother, Priam Agrivar, son of her father, Ostus Agrivar. However, she did not know this until very near the end of her existence, and they had little time to get to know each other as brother and sister. Nevertheless, Cybriana had great sympathy for Priam in his withered, drunken state, and had faith that he could find himself again. Appendix See Also * Kilili * Kyriani Agrivar Notes References Category:Magic-users Category:Half-elves Category:Females Category:Inhabitants of Shadowdale Category:Inhabitants of the Dalelands Category:Inhabitants of Interior Faerûn Category:Inhabitants of Faerûn Category:Inhabitants of Toril Category:Inhabitants